Milwaukee Brewers: Rest of August could determine playoff fate

The Milwaukee Brewers have five series’ remaining in the month of August that could very likely determine their playoff fate.

The 2019 season for the Milwaukee Brewers has been a bit of a rocky one with plenty of adversity that they’ve had to face. However, with a month and a half or so of baseball left, they still find themselves in the thick of the playoff race.

Currently, they sit just a game and a half back of the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL Central lead. As well as a game and a half behind the Cubs for the final wildcard spot, and only two and a half back of Washington for the first wildcard spot.

Sitting behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the wildcard race are the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the San Francisco Giants, all of which are within three games of the Crew.

Needless to say, it’s a tight race that will likely come down to the final few games of the season. And if the Brewers hope to be one of those final teams, how they play for the remainder of August will go along ways in determining their fate.

8/16 – 8/19 @ Washington

Earlier in the season, the Nationals caught the Brewers at Miller Park in the midst of a seven-game winning streak – wow, that seems so long ago- and were swept.

However, this is a much different Nationals team than the one that the Brewers saw back in the beginning of May. Since June 1st, Washington has a record of 40-22 and has been one of the hotter teams in baseball over that stretch.

8/19 – 8/21 @ St. Louis

A goofy part of the Milwaukee Brewers schedule was that it seemed like the only teams they played over the first month of the season was either St. Louis or the L.A. Dodgers. But since then, the Brewers and Cardinals haven’t played each other since the end of April!

The season series is tied at 5-5 and while at one point the Cardinals fell below .500 and looked like they could be out of contention, they have since bounced back and now hold the NL Central lead with Chicago.

As of late, they have been very hot and cold, losing five in a row on the west coast but have won their previous four games since.

8/23 – 8/25 v. Arizona

The Diamondbacks are clinging to their playoff hopes as they sit three and a half games back of that final wildcard spot.

After a difficult start to the month of July for the Milwaukee Brewers, they were able to right the ship for a bit by taking three out of four games in Arizona. While the Greinke-less Diamondbacks are still a tough matchup, this is a series that Milwaukee should be winning.

8/26 – 8/29 v. St. Louis

The Cardinals head back to Milwaukee where they are 2-4 on the season, despite Paul Goldschmidt absolutely raking when he is at Miller Park. Depending on how the previous series’ go, this could be another great opportunity for the Brewers to make up some ground or hopefully,  pull ahead in the divisional race.

8/30 – 9/1 @ Chicago

Rounding out the month of August, the Brewers will head to Wrigley Field. So far this season the two teams have played 12 times and the Cubs hold the advantage with a 7-5 record.

In 2019, Wrigley Field has not been friendly to the Crew as they are a lowly 1-5 when playing there on the season, including a sweep the last time they were in town. At this point in the season, this is pretty much a must-win series for Milwaukee if they hope to see October baseball once again.

It really has been a roller-coaster season up to this point for the Brewers and as they prepare for what is perhaps the most important stretch of their season, we have to wonder which team will we see?

As bleak as things have appeared at times, Milwaukee still finds themselves in the thick of the playoff race and they have the opportunity to really set themselves apart in the upcoming weeks. With that said, the opposite is true as well and they could play themselves right out of contention.